


Windchill

by MatrixDream



Series: Halo: The Arbiter x Master Chief [1]
Category: Halo
Genre: 'Platonic' cuddling, (it is), Alien Hypothermia, Fighting, It's not gay at all, It's to warm him up guys, M/M, Multiple near death situations, TOTALLY NOT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 10:00:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10761945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatrixDream/pseuds/MatrixDream
Summary: During a battle in an icy tundra the Arbiter is wounded. Damage to his armour means no shield and no heater. It's a race against time as he fights off the Covenant fleet, the freezing temperatures, and maybe even some feelings for his ally.





	Windchill

        The echoing sounds of explosions and gunfire rang out across the frozen tundra, the ruckus being carried by the chilled wind as easily as the dancing frozen flakes. Carcasses littered the battlefield; some human, most Covenant. Still the fight did not let up as more plasma blasts whizzed through the air and bullets were fired in retaliation. A single Sangheili and Spartan being all that was left of their team but they remained strong as the Covenant forces slowly began to dwindle. The objective was thankfully secured so survival was the remaining goal for the green Spartan and silver Elite. A mission that was so far successful, despite the few burns and dents in their respective armour. The snow was unmerciful with camouflage due to the colours.   
        Though once the final Brute fell, all there was to worry about were Grunts and a handful of Kig-Yar. Easy pickings.  
        "We must not let our guard down." The Arbiter reminded his partner that they should not become too over confident nonetheless. He received a nod and grunt of agreement in response; before ironically being blindsided by a Grunt cackling as it ran towards them, holding grenades.   
        Master Chief managed to jump out of the way in time, aiming at the enemy alien as he dodged. He shot the creature down, dampening the blow to the Arbiter who wasn't quite so lucky. The Sangheili got knocked back from the shockwave of the explosives and was certainly wounded, but alive.   
        "You okay?" Chief asked as he wiped snow from his visor, quickly glancing at his ally before turning his attention back to shooting more Grunts.  
        "Yes." The Arbiter grunted out as he staggered to his feet, hand covering his chest where a hole had been ripped into the armour. That wasn't the biggest problem though as he instantly took notice of the sudden coldness, his shields and temperature regulator no longer functioned. He shook his head, he could worry about that later but right now he was still surrounded by enemies.

        Quickly taking refuge behind a snow bank, he picked up his dropped blaster and began returning fire once again, instantly killing a running Grunt. The human covered him while he was still trying to recover, both of them oblivious to the real threat creeping up. 

        "I have a plan. Do you have anymore grenades?" Master Chief questioned, ducking down behind his own cover as plasma flew over his head. 

        "One. What do you have in mind?" The Arbiter asked, shooting down two more Grunts and a Jackal. 

        "Give it to me," The Spartan held out his hand urgently and the Elite complied with a flawless toss. "If we can scare a majority into hiding over there-" He pointed to a snow bound that already had a fair amount of the remaining Covenant forces hiding behind it. "I'm in range so we could take out most of them with one grenade." The alien nodded in acknowledgement, prompting them both to begin scaring the enemy with a few not so warning shots that caused them to instantly seek cover. 

        Without proper guidance the leaderless warriors quickly and easily fell into the Spartan's trap. As expected there were a few stragglers running around screaming "The Demon is among us!" but they were of little matter as he focused on throwing the explosive into the large group. The smarter aliens dived out of the way but they were no luckier than the rest as they were shot midair. Three enemy life signatures remained, one Grunt which he instantly shot dead, and two Kig-Yar. Both of them were shielded Jackals, which was certainly proving to create some difficulty. 

        The Arbiter was beginning to feel the effects of the cold more than ever as his fingers were becoming stiff and numb. He couldn't stop his body from shivering and he was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate. Thankfully the battle was coming to an end but that wasn't an instantaneous fix to this growing problem, though it did create a time limit. His patience growing thin as the frigid weather consumed him, he took a wild shot at one of the Jackals. The blast bounced off of the Kig-Yar's shield but ended up ricocheting and hitting it's partner, killing it. That caught everyone off guard but the Spartan was the first to recover, taking the sudden opening to shoot past the remaining Jackal's shield and officially ending the battle. In spite of this, the two allies kept their guard up until they were certain that all enemies had been defeated.

        "I believe we are safe for the time being." The Sangheili spoke, breathing heavily as the last bit of adrenaline took its course. 

        "Yeah." Master Chief grunted as he sat down, resting his back against a wall but remaining alert to his surroundings. He took this moment to try to get ahold of someone so they could be retrieved and thankfully did. Once finished with the call he turned to the remaining alien. "I've called in for pick up. We should be out of here in about ten minutes..-" Though he never got a response as the Elite unexpectedly collapsed. Chief was up in an instant, crouching by his ally within seconds and assessing the damage. "Are you hurt?" He questioned, seeing nothing outside of the dents, hole, and few minor scrapes in the armour.   
        "I'm fi-..fine." The Arbiter muttered out, slurring his words. He'd finally stopped shivering but he was still freezing, the wind and snow biting at his exposed skin. Fatigue was beginning to set in, only being slightly disrupted by the human offering him a hand. Taking it he was pulled up into a sitting position but the Spartan did not let go. 

        Through the thin layer of his glove, Chief could tell that the alien's temperature was not right. Removing his glove, he touched the Elite's hand again, it was ice cold. "You're freezing." He pointed out. 

        The Arbiter tried not to pull back with a hiss as the other's opposing temperature made his hand practically burn. Though he didn't bother with a comment, opting to save his energy until their rescue team arrived.

        Clearly the Spartan was not thinking the same. "Take off your armour. "

        "What? No." 

        "At this rate you wont survive ten minutes. You'll be dead before the retrieval team even get here." Chief gruffed out, uninterested in an argument as he began removing some of his own armour.

        "What are yo-...doing? Your armour wo-wont fit me." The Sangheili managed out, though he reluctantly began removing some of his armour. 

        "I know."

        "Chief, don't tell me you're doing what I think you're doing." Cortana spoke up after being silent during the entire fight, as per requested. 

        "Just trust me." The aforementioned man directed his response at both the alien and A.I, silencing the latter yet again. He helped the Arbiter to his feet and guided him against a wall. His fingers were too stiff to detach the rest of the plating but the Spartan assisted with that too once _his_ upper body was bare to the harsh weather. 

        The Arbiter was having trouble concentrating but he finally understood what the man was doing. "You fool, we'll both die if you do this." Is what he meant to say but most came out as a garbled, unintelligible mess that slipped in and out of his native tongue. Though the irony of dying this way was not lost on him after countless life threatening missions; taken out by mere temperature, truly an honourless death. 

        "I'll be fine." Chief somehow understood the concern but brushed it off as his natural body heat could withstand the current weather and protect them both until help arrived. He could count on one hand the number of people he'd be comfortable doing this for and the alien before him was the only of that species he'd ever be willing to protect. Death was not going to be an option today as he wrapped his muscular arms around the Sangheili's freezing body, pulling him against a toned chest.   
          The Arbiter found himself sinking into the contact as he was enveloped in warmth, his dual hearts gradually began to return to a normal rhythm. His skin itched from the conflicting temperatures but through the haziness of his mind he was fairly certain that was a good sign. Despite the want to pull closer and press up against the heat source his pride and apprehension held out but perhaps that was for the best. Still, he could not ignore the intimacy; especially as the human's chest brushed against his, briefly making contact with his sensitive scar which caused him to shiver. This being read wrong as his ally pulled him closer and thus made their bodies flush, but he didn't complain as he finally began to warm up.

        The arrival time slowly ticked by and noticeable goosebumps began forming on the human's skin. As he got warmer the man got colder but still refused to stop. "Spartan, do not harm yourself for my sake." He spoke, trying to hide the half-heartedness as he didn't actually want the Spartan to stop. His reptilian like body was far too susceptible to the cold for his liking. 

        Master Chief checked the countdown in his HUD. "Three minutes remaining, I'll be fine," Despite this he did let go of the alien for the most part, instead grasping the Sangheili's hands to warm them up as well. Chief tipped his helmet back a bit before deliberately exhaling on the freezing hands. "Two minutes," The Spartan briefly paused to say before continuing for about another minute. "Alright, pick up will be here soon."  
        "Thank you." The Arbiter nodded in acknowledgement and gratitude as his hands were released. Although it was useless he began to put his armour back on and the human followed his lead, making no comment.

        The distant thrum of engines signaled the arrival of their ride, at long last. Silence ensued between the two of them as the UH-144 Falcon touched down. The cold continued to bite at the pair and as the Falcon whipped snow around they had to cover their faces. Once the flakes cleared Chief was the first to climb aboard before offering a hand to the Sangheili who barely hesitated before taking it. Though the grip notably lasted a few seconds more than necessary. 

        "It's good to see you two alive." A generic soldier greeted them with a smile and stood up. He went to place an amicable pat on the Spartan's shoulder but a menacing glance from the golden visor had him quickly backpedaling out of the contact. 

        Chief shot a glance to the Elite, unnoticeable besides the slight tilt of his helmet. The alien was already looking at him, considerately? He wasn't too sure but, the Arbiter had a different look in his eyes. Still neither of them commented on the events that had unfolded. Though that didn't mean something hadn't been affected. 

        "I think he likes you, Chief." Cortana commented out of the blue. 

        "Shut up." He mumbled, getting a laugh in response. 

        "I'm just saying." 

        "Well, stop. I was just helping out a friend." A final hidden glance was cast towards the alien before he took a seat. 

        The Arbiter sat on the opposite side without a word, he absentmindedly rubbed at his cool skin. He still hadn't recovered fully from the affects of the cold but what was really bothering him was a strange...tingling feeling. Though he shook it off and with a jolt the Falcon took off. 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Halo fic and it's just me dipping my toes into the fandom. This is sort of a prequel to a fic I want to write so, please, tell me how you feel about it!


End file.
